By Michael Uugwanga

Grade 12 pupil Andrew Jamal is setting himself aside as the next big snooker to come out of the country, following his good display at the WPA Heyball U-19 World Championship in Australia, last month.
Although Jamal did not reach the final, his performance did not go unnoticed as he was up against snooker players from countries that snooker is a big sport. 

This week, Confidente caught up with Jamal as he shared his first international experience in the sport of snooker and the WPA Heyball U-19 World Championship.

“It was an incredible experience playing there and just being amongst the best junior players in the world was truly inspiring. I felt proud to represent Namibia on such a big international stage,” Jamal narrated. 

“I stayed calm under pressure and played some of my best frames. In both games I raced quickly to take the lead by winning the first three frames and from there I control the games. He added: “What went wrong is that by game three, I experienced problems with my cue. Because to the heaviness of the cue balls, the tip of my cue started to thin out, hence I could not play my normal shots. I was very cautious about my shot selection which makes it very difficult especially during the breaks. I experienced a lot of dry breaks.”
The 18 year-old, is now focusing on the upcoming local competitions and to bring to the table the experience gained in Australia.
Jamal represents his boyhood snooker club King Cues Cue Ball Club in Windhoek, which he joined three years. 

He is yet to win a local competition, despite having represented the country at the highest level at the gold coast.
“It was my first time playing on a hey ball table, winning two and losing two games. Both opponents were from Australia, the second opponent was the Australian champion last year. The other two that won against me were from Hong Kong and USA,” he added. 
“It taught me discipline, patience and focus. It gave me a purpose, helped me to stay out of the streets and allowed me to travel and partake at this championship abroad. It also taught me how to deal with winning and also how to deal with loosing.”